Guinea Pig Wheezing - Need To Change Habitat Location

[Kace Matthews]

My guinea pig Gepetto is five years old. I heard him wheezing about a half hour ago. Its 8 o'clock at night so I can't take him to the vet until tomorrow. He has a cage that is pretty large in the downstairs area of the house. However, the entire downstairs (honestly the whole house) can be drafty in the winter. He has always been very strong and I have always made sure to keep him comfortable during the winter. However, I heard him wheezing this evening. I want to move his habitat upstairs for the night where it is warmer. But I am nervous that if he is in a weakened state, moving his habitat upstairs to an unfamiliar room would be detrimental. I'm also afraid that if he is moved upstairs to a bedroom, the seclusion would be bad for him. I would leave the door open and visit him upstairs a lot, but he is used to being in the family room at the center of everything.

The other option is to move his cage to a different part of the family room that is further away from the windows but closer to the door! I don't know what to do. I'm relatively young and I rent a really crappy house that is drafty. Please tell me if you think a move to a warmer but somewhat secluded area of the house is the best option. I don't want him to become depressed by not being in the family room and I don't want the move upstairs to shock him

 

[Swissgreys]

Hello and Welcome to the Forum


You sound like a really committed owner and Gepetto is lucky to have you.
Firsly he should really see a vet to rule out a respiratory infection.

If he is given a clean bill of health then you have several options.
You could leave his cage where it is ad look into ways of draft proofing it.
What sort of cage is he in?

You could always cover half of the cage with a piece of fleece, and make sure he has several hideys (even a cardboard box will do) in the covered section of the cage.
Depending on what substrate you use in your cage you could offer him fleece snuggles sack to sleep in, and maybe add a snuggle safe heat pad at night to offer extra warmth.
When you go to bed at night you could cover the entire cage with an old blanket to offer extra insulation when the temperature drops.
You could even just make some temporary walls for the cage out of cardboard cut to the right size and cable tied on to the bars/grids.

So if you think he is happy where he is, there are lots of ways to make his cage a bit warmer and keep him comfortable through the Winter.